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I force my eyes open with all my strength. They shut immediately with the bright lights all around the room.
“Turn off the fucking lights,” The same Russian voice growls. After a few seconds, I try to open my eyes again, this time being successful with just the small light in the corner of the room.
My vision is blurry for a few seconds, but I see a face hovering close to mine, looking all around my face. When my vision clears, I see Viktor’s face, worry, and fear etched into every inch of his skin. “Everyone out!” He growls, pulling a chair to sit right next to the bed.
I reach my hand up to my throat, brushing the skin there lightly. I feel the rough bumps of scabs there, one running the length of my neck. Viktor understands what I’m trying to say and grabs a cup of water on the table and puts the straw to my lips, inching it into my mouth gently until I can create a suction on it to pull water up.
After taking a few sips, I release the straw, and he sets it back down on the table.
“What happened?” I rasp, not having any memory of what happened leading up to my being clearly in the hospital.
“You don’t remember?” He asks, sadness covering his face. “You wrecked your bike, Penelope. It was bad. You broke both legs, your arm, collarbone, and pelvis. You were in a coma for three weeks,” his voice cracks, tears brimming in his eyes. “You were in surgery for over twenty-four hours when you came in, saving your life,” He pauses, gulping air before continuing, “And your baby.” I’m sorry, did he just say baby?
“Baby?” I question, panic flooding me, my heart rate accelerating as the machine next to me beeps faster.
“Yes, a baby. Doctors say you’re around four to five months along, but need more information from you to get a better age guess.” That lines up to my first time with Riot.
It takes seconds before heavy sobs rip out of me, tears spilling down my cheeks. I can’t be pregnant. I can’t have a baby with a man who doesn’t want me, who used me. “No, no, no, no, no,” I say in between sobs, my hands covering my face to muffle my cries. “Does he know?”
“No, he doesn’t.” Viktor takes my hand in his, kissing the back of it gently. “It’ll be okay, Сестра. You have endless support here. If he doesn’t help you, I will. Mama will be there, she’s actually waiting in the lobby for my text to come see you,” he chuckles. “But know, you and your baby will be taken care of. If you want to disappear, I’ll help you do that. As long as you secretly stay in contact with Mama, or else she’ll kill me.” My cries slow at his words.
“Can I see her? Please,” I plead, and he smiles softly before it disappears.
“One more thing before she comes in here.” He takes a deep breath, unshed tears in his own eyes. “Dmitri was taken.” My heart skips a beat at his words. What does he mean? Is he okay? Where the fuck is he? “We went on a mission, and he was taken down by men we didn’t know would be there. It was the day after you crashed. I’m a fucking coward; I ran. Ran away from him. I watched them take him, and I couldn’t do shit.” Tears spill over his eyelids, his vulnerability showing.
“You’re not a coward for not fighting something you weren’t going to survive. Dmitri is more than likely more at peace because you’re safe, and he knows you’ll find him soon.” I squeeze my hand in his, my own tears falling again at the thought of Riot being hurt, and there’s nothing we can do until he’s found.
“It’s been three weeks, Pen. There’s no trace of him.”
“We’ll find him, I promise. And when we do, please, beat the absolute fuck out of him for me. Can you do that for your Сестра?” His eyes meet mine, joy sparking through them.
“You know what that means?” I giggle at his lack of awareness of Google.
“Google Translate is a thing, you know,” I deadpan. He shrugs his shoulders, a smile and a chuckle falling from his lips.
“Do you want to know the gender of your angel?” He knows the gender? I nod my head frantically, regretting it when the pounding in my skull starts. “You, my сестра, are having my niece. I will be spoiling her to the high heavens, so prepare for that. Mama has already bought so many clothes, the little girl won’t be able to wear them all before she grows out of them.” He chuckles, a genuine smile on his face at the thought of having a niece to love and spoil.
No more words are spoken before a red-faced Linda busts through the door. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t wait any longer. Did you tell her?” She points towards Viktor. He chuckles and nods. She squeals but whispers sorry when I wince at the volume, and Viktor glares at her.
She pulls up a chair, scooting Viktor’s large butt further away from me. He scoots right back, scooting her over. She pulls out the mom glare that has him scooting away before I can snap and has me looking away.
Looking back at me, her face shifts from scolding to pure joy. “You’re having my grandbaby! Oh my gosh, I am so excited to meet the peach!”
“I’m scared. What if Riot doesn’t accept it, or me?” Out of the corner of my eye, I see Viktor grimace at the use of his alias.
“If he does, I will disown him and adopt you,” She says matter-of-factly. I chuckle at her statement, knowing no matter what happens, I’ll be okay.
*This book is an advance reader copy and is to not be distributed anywhere. [email protected]*
30
Chapter Thirty
Ghost Girl - Lil Peep
Penelope
It’s been two months since I woke up. I’m at the end of my sixth month of pregnancy. I didn’t show for the beginning of my pregnancy because my body was still recovering from severe malnutrition. I’m more than prepared to bring this baby into the world. I have clothes in every size until she becomes a damn adult. More toys than she’ll need, and every baby and toddler accessory known to man.
